Mohammad Oliyaifard, the lawyer representing a group of political, civil and student activists, as well as juvenile offenders on death row, was arrested on the night of May 1, 2010. His lawyer Abdolfatah Soltani considers the arrest illegal and an attempt to intimidate other lawyers.

Mohammad Oliyaifard has been under pressure several times in the past for defending the Islamic Republic’s dissidents. Once he was interrogated and accused of “propagating lies” and “propagating against the regime” for speaking out on the torture of one of his clients and for claiming that the death penalty is an unjust punishment for offenders under the age of 18. Oliyaifard was arrested upon a visit to the Revolutionary Court. He was transferred to prison in handcuffs and shackles.

Keyvandokht Ghahari of Deutsche Welle conducted an interview with Abdolfatah Soltani, one of Oliyaifard’s tree lawyers.

Deutsche Welle: Mr. Soltani, your client Mr. Mohammad Oliyaifard was arrested May 1st. Do you have any information on the circumstance of his arrest?

Abolfatah Soltani: Based on the information I have, he was supposed to meet Mr. Azimi, the judicial assistant of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. I was supposed to accompany him to the meeting, but I fell ill. I was not able to attend so he went alone. Apparently as he was going up the stairs to the meeting office, the head of branch 26 noticed him and informed him of his sentence. From what I have heard from Mr. Olyaifard’s wife, they handcuffed and shackled him and sent him to Evin prison without announcing his verdict to anyone who is able to defend Oliyaifard. Therefore, the verdict and the sentence were not legally communicated to his lawyers.

Unfortunately this [has become] an illegal trend where the [Revolutionary Court] does not provide a defendant with their verdict and sentence. They call the lawyers, or see the lawyers in the hallways of the courthouse, and ask them “to sit and copy the verdict”. Since this is an illegal act, we consider Mr. Oliyayi’s arrest also unlawful. In fact, those who have arrested him, should be themselves prosecuted for unlawful detention.

DW: Mr. Oliyaifard was arrested once before two months ago. Are the arrests related?

Soltani: Yes, Mr. Oliyaifard was was detained for six or seven days in relation to the same case. Then, based on the order issued by the judicial officials, the detention was stopped, and he was released. Now, he has been re-arrested.

DW: On what charges have these arrests been made?

Soltani: Mr. Oliyaifard had an interview where he was accused of committing propaganda against the regime, which is his main charge.

DW: Mr. Oliyaifard was arrested on International Labour Day, and we know that he is representing some of the labour activists as well. Is this a coincidence?

Mohammad Oliyaifard's lawyer Abolfatah Soltani

Soltani: I don’t think this was the reason behind his arrest. It is unlikely that it was related to International Labour Day. The reason is the illegal methods adopted by some of the Revolutionary Court’s branches. Behnoud Shojaee was convicted of a murder he committed as a teenager. He was sentenced to death even though he was under the age of 18. The reason behind Mr. Oliyaifard’s arrest is his criticism of the execution of his client Behnoud Shojaee.

DW: Mr. Oliyaifard, as far as we know, has three lawyers, one of whom is you. What steps have you taken for his defense and to secure his release?

Soltani: First of all, he has opened a complaint at the Government Official Court against the office president and the judge responsible for branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court. We have also written an [appeal] letter. Most likely sometime this week we will meet with a high judicial official on the provincial level to hear their orders and see what actions they can take to stop this unlawful conduct.

DW: Is it possible that this case, at least for Mr.Oliyaifard, will be close once and for all?

Soltani: I hope so, although the possibility is very low. The trend has been that when they charge someone, if the first case doesn’t result in a conviction, they open more cases until [the defendant’s lawyer] either gives in or [the defendant] receives a sentence a few years long. This way, the court is able to force the lawyer out of the practice of law to defend [the activists and juvenile offenders]. This has already been the situation for some lawyers.